Daily Headlines: May 15, 2008

* Brazil: Environment minister Marina Silva resigned on Tuesday in a move decried by environmentalists.

* Latin America: Did economic pressure from the World Bank at underdeveloped countries fuel the global food crisis?

* Venezuela: The Venezuelan and Portuguese heads of state signed an oil-for-food deal in anticipation of this weekend’s European Union-Latin America summit.

* Chile: The evacuated town of Chaiten will be shutdown for three months due to the eruptions of a nearby volcano.

Sources- Monsters & Critics, Bloomberg, MSNBC, BBC News

Image- MSNBC (“Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula of Silva, right, speaks with his Environment Minister Marina Silva at an Amazon conservation program in Brasilia on May 8. The minister resigned Tuesday.”)

Immigration Destroying Families On Both Sides of the Border

With the recent ICE raids across the U.S. there is much talk about how families are being torn apart without a deeper analysis of the how and the why immigrants are coming to the United States and how on the Mexican side of the border, families are being torn apart as well as breadwinners are forces to look for work outside their national borders.

So single women go north. And increasingly grandparents are being left
behind with grandchildren to take care of. The elders do what elders
do: they grow older, they start to lose their hearing, they need
someone to take care of them. But that generation is up north. Women
like Floriberta are left to take care of the elders…to the degree that
they can.
The people who spoke to us are clear that the forced migrations have
brought their towns economic benefits but a devastating disintegration
of families.
In Boqueron, I was struck by how empty the town is of traditional
families. There are elders of both genders and younger women with
their babies but very few men and women in their twenties and
thirties.

Source : Racewire

Ecuador's President Rafeal Correa: "Even the U.S. Can't Control Outside Infiltration"

In an interview with BBC Mundo, Ecuador's President Rafeal Correa said from Paris that he feels no responsibility for the FARC camps found inside his country that sparked an international incident.

First, the FARC didn't have permanent camps [inside Ecuador]. They were temporary, about two or three months.
Second, what self critique should I have? Even the United States can't prevent immigration, that's why they are building a wall along the Mexican border.
Accusing us of allowing the FARC to infiltrate means accusing Colombia allowing the FARC to leave Colombia. That's Colombia's responsibility. We control our own territory.

In the interview (which is really interesting and should be read in my opinion), Correa also said that while he has no confidence in Uribe he is willing to talk with him in the upcoming conference in Lime because they are neighbors.

Source : BBC Mundo

Daily Headlines: May 14, 2008

* Brazil: A government study concluded that there are more blacks than whites in Brazil for the first time since slavery was abolished 120 years ago.

* Bolivia: Will voters oust President Evo Morales on an August 10^th recall referendum?

* Latin America: Corruption is the main obstacle to trade and investment between Latin America and the European Union according to a survey released yesterday.

* Chile: The government will give a minimum of $1070 to families who were forced to evacuate due to the erupting Chaiten volcano.

Sources- Guardian UK, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, BBC News

Image- PBS

Today’s Video: Lucky 13 for “In the Heights”

Earlier today the nominations were announced for this year’s Tony Awards with “In the Heights” receiving thirteen of them. Best Musical and Leading Actor in a Musical are two of the categories with nods for the musical described by one source as “a look at Latino life in upper Manhattan.”

Below is a commercial for “In the Heights” which gives an idea of what the musical is all about:

(Hat tip: Guanabee, Vivirlatino).

Sources- Guanabee, Vivirlatino, NY1, New York Daily News, YouTube

Mexico: Drug cartel blamed for police chief killing

Mexican authorities have blamed a “powerful drug cartel” for masterminding the killing last week of the country’s acting federal police chief. Six suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of Edgar Millán Gomez including the suspected assassin.

The recent spate of violence against Mexican law enforcement officials has led to op/ed pieces in papers like the Miami Herald and the Arizona Republic. They all call for something to be done and warn that inaction will have serious consequences for the U.S.:

Mexican president Felipe Calderon has been brave enough to try to wrestle back control of his country from the vicious drug cartels that have been terrorizing border areas and, increasingly, major Mexican cities for years…

It's time for America to show a little courage, too, and not just because the true source of all the violence - drug demand - lies on our side of the border. Apart from the fact that the violence in Mexico makes a mockery of America's own spectacularly unsuccessful "war on drugs," it should go without saying that instability there has repercussions here.

Sources- BBC News, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, MSNBC, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Latin Americanist

Image- PRESS TV (“Mexican officials with President Felipe Calderon at the funeral of Edgar Millan Gomez.”)

Colombia: Ex-paramilitary heads extradited to U.S.

Fourteen former paramilitary leaders were extradited from Colombia to the U.S. this morning. The men had been jailed after they gave themselves up under a 2003 peace agreement and includes Salvatore Mancuso (image) who alleged that several U.S. fruit companies hired paramilitaries for “security” on plantations.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe claimed that the former para leaders were extradited since they didn’t abide by the pact and continued to mastermind crimes from behind bars. They will go up for trial in several U.S. federal courts to face charges of money laundering and drug trafficking.

The extradition has raised the ire of several groups such as opposition politicos who claim that it was done so that the government could lessen the blow of the “para-politics” corruption scandal. More importantly, is the worry by hundreds of families of those “disappeared” by the paramilitaries that they will never find out what really happened to their loved ones.

Sources- CBS News, Voice of America, AFP, The Latin Americanist, International Herald Tribune, Reuters

Image- BBC News

Pentagon adviser chimes in on Iran

Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, a Pentagon adviser, said today he is glad the Pentagon has "woken up" to the threat Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his alignment with Iran poses.

Tehran is working to militarize Venezuela, Maginnis wrote in an op-ed. He also expressed concern that Venezuela was allowing Hezbollah or other terrorist groups to operate in the country.

Maginnis also raised an alarming claim that the Iranians are helping Chavez to construct nuclear weapons 1,000 miles from Florida, according to this article.

Source: OneNewsNow, Photo: Happyarabnews.blogspot

Peru's mobility lags

A new report shows that Peru has the lowest "mobile number portability" in all of Latin America, which means their mobile service ability is about 36 percent lower than the region's average.

However, in 2007, Peru had the third highest mobile growth rate in South Ameica.

Reasons might include the sharp contrasts between service in rocky rural areas and cities.

The report, “2008 Latin America - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in the Andean Bloc” is available at the end of this press release.

Daily Headlines: May 13, 2008

* Venezuela: Hugo Chavez seemed to have godwinated German Chancellor Angela Merkel in comparing her to the “German right” which descended from Adolf Hitler.

* U.S.: Presidential hopeful John McCain quiere su voto.

* Mexico: Mother’s Day was a day of remembrance for mothers in Ciudad Juarez over the disappearances of hundreds of young women.

* U.S.: According to the Associated Press, over half of the 504 people who became new citizens at a ceremony last weekend were from the Dominican Republic.

Sources- CBS News, Center for International Policy, Boston.com, Urban Dictionary, Reuters

Image- MSNBC

Today's Video: Happy Mother's Day!

We would like to wish a very happy and heartfelt Mother's Day to all the madres out there. In honor of this day (and for that matter, all the sacrifice and determination set forth by mothers everyday) a classic from Bill Withers:

Source- YouTube

Colombia trying to “provoke” war says Chavez

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez accused his Colombian counterpart of wanting to provoke war with Venezuela in order to justify a U.S. intervention there. In remarks made today on his radio talk show, Chavez urged Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to “think closely about how far you can go” regarding a supposed invasion:

"I issue an alert to the continent, the Venezuelan people, the armed forces over the Colombian government's intention to provoke a war against us," Chavez said.

"This has been planned and (the war) would come by way of the (western) states of Zulia and Tachira. They've been playing for time and making their plans.

"It would be a war in which the paramilitaries would play a role of penetration and intelligence," Chavez said, allegedly referring to Colombia's right-wing paramilitary forces.

Chavez’ remarks come after days after media reports from the Wall Street Journal and Spain’s El Pais accused his government of deep ties with Colombia’s FARC guerillas. Chavez has denied the allegations made by those sources.

Image- MWC News (The president of Colombian and Venezuelan chat during a conference earlier this year)

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, Bloomberg, France24, AFP

Poll: Dominican president favorite in election

With general election coming up on Friday Dominican President Leonel Fernandez has a comfortable lead over his closest rivals based on a recent poll. 56% of respondents to a poll by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates selected Fernandez to continue in the presidency; this is compared to 37% and 5% to the rivals from the country’s two other major parties.

If the poll numbers reflect the voters’ choices on Friday then Fernandez will win without a runoff round. Several experts observed that Fernandez has some serious challenges ahead of him if he goes on to a third non-consecutive term:

"He is going to be trying to complete the unfinished business from the term that he is concluding now," said Dan Erikson, a Caribbean expert at Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.

"The Dominican Republic still has to deal with facing ongoing social problems, inadequate education and health care for many people and also just the basic element of job creation," Erikson said…

"To me the main challenge will be economic and just managing the economy in times of crisis," (said Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American expert at Florida International University who has worked as a consultant for Fernandez.)

Image- BBC News (Dominican President Leonel Fernandez along with his Colombian and Venezuelan counterparts earlier this year)

Sources- Reuters, Angus Reid Consultants

Chile: Hacker posts personal data of millions

Chilean police are investigating the hacking of personal information of over six million people on a tech website on Saturday. As mentioned today by Chilean daily El Mercurio the data published on the FayerWayer blog included names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, and identification numbers.

Meanwhile, a post on FayerWayer by the site’s administrator urged Chilean officials to concentrate on fixing the problem of private records being hacked:

Unfortunately, (the government) is misunderstanding the situation based on the words of (presidential spokesman Francisco) Vidal:

“I don’t know anything about computers much less that there’s such a thing as hacking…We have to catch mister hacker.”

No Mr. Vidal, the hacker only works to inform you of the vulnerabilities he found. The investigation that needs to be focus on how somebody could have access and publish the personal data of nearly half the population.

Image- The Raw Story

Sources (English)- International Herald Tribune

Sources (Spanish)- FayerWayer, El Mercurio

Daily Headlines: May 11, 2008

* Brazil: Congrats to Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa who won for the third straight year.

* Peru: Prosecutors are upset with a “lack of respect” by former president Alberto Fujimori during his trial for human rights abuses.

* Mexico: Controversy has erupted over a judge who fined a writer $5 for “desecrating the country's flag” in a poem.

Image- Sky Sports

Sources- AFP, People’s Daily Online, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: May 10, 2008

* Mexico: Esteban Robles became the second senior law enforcement official shot and killed this week in Mexico City.

* Latin America: Foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean reached record highs in 2007 according to the United Nations.

* Chile: Some animal rights groups are upset that hundreds of pets have been left behind by evacuating residents of villages surrounding the erupting Chaiten volcano.

* Brazil: Contrary to remarks made by a senior U.S. diplomat, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim doesn’t believe that Iran is using Latin America to threaten U.S. security.

Image- MSNBC (“A Mexican Federal Police officer pauses during a ceremony to honor officers recently killed in Mexico City, Friday, May 9, 2008.”)

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Caribbean Net News, International Herald Tribune, BBC News, Bloomberg

Congrats Alison!

Quick note - We’ll be off this Monday; instead, we’ll be blogging on Saturday.

In the meantime, eagle-eyed readers of our blog might have noticed that one of our contributors- Alison Bowen- was unable to post this week. Why? As she wrote to me in an e-mail message yesterday:

This week is CRAZY for me -- I just got engaged and have been turned upside down!

Congratulations Alison to you and your fiancée; you are an invaluable part of this blog and we’re all very happy for you!

Sources- Alison Bowen

Image- wedding53.com

WSJ: Chavez, FARC in deep cahoots

According to an article published in today’s Wall Street Journal, (WSJ), there are very deep ties between Venezuela’s government and Colombia’s FARC guerillas. The report alleged that their data was based on “more than 100 new files” taken from laptops seized after the controversial Colombian army raid in Ecuador last March:

These documents indicate Venezuela appears to be making concrete offers to help arm the rebels, possibly with rocket-propelled grenades and ground-to-air missiles. The files suggest that Venezuela offered the FARC the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments, and that Venezuela raised the prospect of drawing up a joint security plan with the FARC and sought basic training in guerrilla-warfare techniques.

The article goes on to note that separate statements from the Venezuelan government and the FARC have denied the documents that are supposedly from the seized computers. In addition, the piece said that international police organization Interpol is currently investigating the legitimacy of the computer files.

Several bloggers have reacted to the WSJ piece; for instance, BoRev.net questions the validity of the anonymous sources cited in the piece. Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation’s blog has accused “liberals in Congress” of helping the FARC based on legislators' relations with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Image- CNN

Sources- AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, BoRev.net, The Foundry

Bolivia to Hold Vote of Confidence (or not) Regarding Morales and his Reforms

In the wake of the Santa Cruz autonomy vote, the people of Bolivia will vote in the referendum on whether President Evo Morales, his vice-president and nine governors should stay in office.
Morales agreed to the referendum after the Bolivian Senate backed the vote. Morales has two more years left in his term as the nation's first indigenous president, where his efforts to reform, especially with regard to indigenous rights and national control of industries. One has to wonder if it is also good old fashion anti-"indio" feelings.

If more than 53.74% of voters , their margin of support at the December 2005 election , reject them, a new general election will be held.

Sources : The Latin Americanist, BBC

Mexico's National Police Chief Killed

Edgar Eusebio Millán Gómez, the head of the National Mexican Police, was killed yesterday outside his home. He is the highest ranking Mexican police official to be killed since the country launched a campaign against the drug cartels a little over a year ago. The fingers seem to be pointed at the drug cartels for this latest incidence of violence, that has claimed at least 6,000 people in the past 2 1/2 years.

Millán Gómez was cut down shortly before 1 a.m. outside his apartment building in the Colonia Guerrero neighborhood, a poor section of Mexico City that associates say he chose because it is close to law enforcement offices. He died after being rushed to a hospital. Two bodyguards were injured in the attack but are expected to survive. One suspect was captured. Millán Gómez's family was under police protection, a law enforcement source said.
Suspicion immediately centered on the Sinaloa cartel, a violent drug gang that has waged full-scale battles with federal police and the Mexican military. Mexican law enforcement officials believe the cartel has recently sought to cripple rivals and broaden its control of drug trafficking here -- a business that U.S. authorities estimate generates as much as $23 billion a year.

Source : Washington Post